Head Movement

[Ronald]

I understand it’s OK for the head to move up and down. But even though it hasn’t been emphasized, it seems from watching the routines that it’s very important to keep the head from moving towards the target during the swing. Is this correct?

[Tathata Staff]

Hi Ronald,

Great question, thank you. Ideally for a stock 7-iron, the head will move a) down 1-2 inches in the backswing, b) 1-2 inches down and 2-3 inches toward the target in the downswing c) and then start moving up as tall as it can get after the club has passed parallel with the ground on the follow-through. Let this be driven by the knees and legs. Anytime the head is moving down or toward the target it’s because it’s following the action of the knees.

[Ronald]

I understand. But while you say the head moves towards the target 2-3 inches on the downswing following the action of the knees, when I watch the full swing routine, it appears that there’s a conscious effort to keep the head behind the ball all the way to the finish. Am I wrong?

[Tathata Staff]

Ronald,

You are correct in this understanding as well. To help provide further clarity, let’s relate the head to ball position. In a stock 7-iron setup, ideally the ball would be setup even with the front ear. At the top of the backswing, the ball would still be relatively even with the front ear as the head and body have remained absolutely centered. In the downswing the head would move slightly forward toward the target to where the ball would be roughly even with your nose. This happens at the final position of “Snap to Level” from the Body Movements Routine and “Baseball Throw” from the Hands and Arms Routine. From this point the head stops moving forward as the body thrusts through impact. The body will begin thrusting up through impact and head will start thrusting up after the club shaft passes parallel to the ground again in the follow-through but will not have moved anymore forward after this moment in the downswing at the end of these movements.

So it is correct to say the head moves forward toward the target in the downswing but also fights to stay even with it through impact which can have the same feeling of the head trying to stay behind the ball through impact.

Thank you, let us know if we can provide any further clarity.

[Ronald]

Thanks very much for your wonderfully clear response!